A blog for the Alexandria, Virginia, Chapter of the Barbershop Harmony Society.

Friday, November 14, 2014

Looking Back on Harmony
on the Harbor Show with Pride of Baltimore Nov. 3rd

(Thanks to show
chairman, Ken Fess, for this wrap up
report from the show.He was far too
modest to suggest how many hours he and Mick
Stamps had spent on getting this show off the ground!) YeEd.)

Harmony on the Harbor was a show two
years in the making, beginning in the summer of 2012.

Coordination with a dozen quartets,
several choruses, Sweet Adelines International, the Cornet Club and the BHS,
along with trips to the SAI conventions in Denver (2012) and Hawaii (2013),
culminated in the presented show.

Show day began early for the
producers, Ken Fess, Mick Stamps, and Carmel Tuttle, as well as Bob Blair, Greg Tepe and Mike Kelly, setting up the curtain,
risers, lights and sound system beginning at 8am. A special thanks to the riser
team that brought the risers, and also got them to the SAI chorus that was
renting them from us for the week.Bob Blair noted these at our last
rehearsal. Also a shout out to Bruce
Lauther who helped get the buses for Ronninge chorus.

Preparations continued into the
afternoon with Mick being assisted
by Jack Cameron, Carl Kaufmann, Mark Klostermeyer,
Dean Rust, Chuck McKeever, Don Dillingham
and members of the Pride of Baltimore, setting up the backstage rooms and food
service.

At the same time Carmel was assisted by her husband Tim, Dean, Brad Jones, Brian Ammerman, Bob and Sandy Ulibarri, and a couple of POB
members set up the reception area for our VIP patrons.

Dixie Kennett
and Mick were also busy setting up
the quartet rooms so that each was prepared to receive our special guests. Nina Krzysko helped to get the ticket
operation in full swing.

Beginning at 2:30 in the afternoon,
with the able assistance of Clark
Chesser, Brad Jones, Sandy Stamps, Kim Fess, Adele Jones, and several other
POB members, the choruses and quartets began arriving. They were ably received
and escorted by Bob Rhome, Dean Rust and
Joel Golden. Stan Quick assisted with making sure the buses and shuttle
vans knew where to park.

For the next couple of hours the
stage crew, led by Greg Tepe, ran
all of our acts through sound checks and stage time to ensure all was ready for
the big show.

After a short meal break, we were
ready to go. The theater rapidly filled up with the over 1700 patrons for the
show, including nearly 100 high school students from the Baltimore area that
were experiencing a barbershop show for the first time.

The show was led off by the Pride of
Baltimore Chorus, with the Harmonizers joining them for the second song. Then
followed MAXX FACTOR, 2011 Queens of Harmony; GQ, the current Region 19 quartet
champs; and then the CZECH! IT OUT QUARTET from Prague (actually LUNCH BREAK
doing an impersonation of a female quartet).

Then the Harmonizers hit the stage,
presenting their contest set they used in winning their 25th
Mid-Atlantic District Chorus Championship the weekend before in Wildwood, NJ,
and earning a standing O from the audience.

THE VOCALITY and SPEED OF SOUNS quartets
followed, and then LUNCH BREAK returned to present more of their craziness.

After a short intermission the
fabulous 1989 Queens of Harmony, GROWING GIRLS, put on a great set to the
delight of the audience. Then followed SPITZER, FRENZY, LUSTRE and the ultimately crowned 2015 Queens of
Harmony, BLING!

And then, to the surprise of the
crowd, LOVE NOTES, the 2014 Queens of Harmony, gave us an unscheduled set,
again wowing everyone in the place. And finally, The Rönninge Show Chorus
crushed us with an incredible set, clearly demonstrating why they were the 2014
Sweet Adelines Chorus Champions!

WOW! What a show! The crowd left the
theater, many of them headed for the afterglow nearby, buzzing about the great
singing they had just seen. There were many responsible for the success of the
show, but none more so than the producers and our intrepid stage manager, Greg Tepe. Thanks belong to all who
contributed, to include all of those whose donations enabled all those students
to attend the performance. (Ken Fess)

Until next time –
editorjack!

(This message is
prepared for your review if you were there, for your information if you had to
miss, and as a historical record of the great things going during the 66th
year of the Alexandria Harmonizer Chapter. —YeEd.)